Jo Goodwin Parker's “What is Poverty?”

We should always help people who are in need. In almost any place in the world today, offerin help or aiding another person even in the simplest ways, can go a long a way. However, help should not only be extended to those who are victims of calamities such as typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis but also poor people whom we cncounter everyday. Doing so will somehow alleviate the pain being felt by people like Jo Goodwin Parker, who recounts her story of poverty in the essay, “What is Poverty? In the essay, Ms.

Parker revealed how she has been suffering in her impoverished state for a very long time now. However, she is quick to emphasize that she wants be people to understand here story rather than simply pity her. She recounted how she does not have enough food and water and has been living in a torn down shelter for many years.

Worst of all, her children have suffered greater than she has as they have bad cases of worm-infections, very dirty clothing, and lived on used diapers.

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And she emphasizes that despite all the programs and government institutions that offer help to the poor, she is still unable to improve her and her children's lives because sadly, everything she needs such as food, hot water, soap, shovel, medicine, and books, require a susbtantial amount of money which is doe not have.

It can be surmised that Ms. Parker embodies the poor which we see everyday. She represents the sector of society that most needs help.

As Ms. Parker said, she “did not come from another place or another time” (Parker n. p. ). She, like many others, are around us and therefore, it is our duty to always help people who are in need.

Works Cited
Parker, Jo Goodwin. “What is Poverty?” 1971. University of Oklahoma Press. 8 July 2009 https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/135/JGParker.html.